EPISODE 6
An action-heavy episode that I remember liking as a kid, and I still think it's just a really cool episode. The tail of the newest Beast Soldier acts as a flute that, when played, allows the monster to manipulate plant life. The monster's one weakness is the sound caused by the engine of the Flashman's Flash Hawk motorcycles. We get to see the smarts of our bad guys, as Keflen immediately figures out the problem, sending out a fleet of fighter ships that successfully destroys the Flash Hawks.
Mess later successfully intercepts Magu from delivering the equipment needed to repair their motorcycles, kidnapping him and forcing him to lead them to the Star Condor, while it's up to the Flashman to get out of this jam on their own. The cool part about this episode, what I always liked, is that the attack has scattered the team around, and Jin comes across each member one by one, who will offer him still-functioning pieces of their own Flash Hawk for the sake of repairing his. Jin's being followed by Mess, with each Flashman member he meets vowing, one by one, to stay behind and hold them back, freeing him to repair his bike and save Magu. That scenario reminds me of Goggle Five's finale, when they're raiding the Deathtopia, with each member one by one staying behind to fight an attack, in order for Goggle Red to make it to the throne room and take on the big bads. So...something Goggle Five used for its entire finale, just an ordinary episode of Flashman. Flashman's going big!
Jin's determined to repair his Flash Hawk, and the others are willing to sacrifice their own, because Jin's bike is important to him. It can be hit and miss when a toku hero is shown to be so devoted to a machine of theirs -- Shinmei was insane for his obsession with Valiblune, but you can understand why Battle Hopper meant something to Koutarou since it was sentient. And it can be a bit dull to have a male character fixated on his vehicle, but I feel like it makes sense here with Jin. Jin talks about how much he treasured the motorcycle while growing up on Flash Star, riding around endlessly. For me, it makes sense that Jin's so attached to his Flash Hawk; it represents a kind of freedom and thrill that was a luxury. Not only were the Flashman robbed of a normal childhood, but Jin was trained and pushed harder than the others. His time alone riding around the Flash planet was probably the closest he got to escaping a strict upbringing -- playing, even. And you just buy it from Touta Tarumi's performance; compared to the way some other actors handle this scenario, he remains understated.
On a random note:
I love Wanda in this episode. Neferu is the one who handles this plan, and Wanda is initially freaking out under the surface when it's looking so successful. But he's then realllllllllllly quick to get in some smack-talk, a "Hey, she sucks. Replace this zero with a hero!" when it starts going bad.
I think this episode is OK. Good action scenes, but it's not one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteCurious as for a few years episodes involving machines were used early in the series to give the viewer the chance to get to know the Red of the season. It was so with Changeman in episode 03, and it would be so with Maskman in episode 04 and Liveman in episode 05.
In any case, I would like to highlight the design of the Flashman bikes, they are beautiful.
I hadn't thought of the similarly-themed episodes between all of those shows. Well...there are worse ways for an episode to put a spotlight on a toy!
DeleteI always liked this concept where the heroes really treasure their gear. It really makes the kids watching fall in love with the stuff too and makes them want to buy them. You fall in love with the designs and treasure them. They mean something, you're willing to buy merch with the picture of those things on them.
ReplyDeleteNowadays toku is so fleeting that a toy gets a one episode appearance and is forgotten. Right now, I can't tell you the last time we saw Shine and Shadow Raptors. If someone is reading this in the future and don't know what that is or what I'm talking about, then my point's been made. Kamen Rider does this too. Their forms and looks don't even mean anything. They just dump it into the show to hope a certain percentage of viewers and collectors will go to the store every week.
The stuff sticking around and time spent on appreciating them matters. Why make 40 different designs of something when you can make one excellent one and sell the crap out of it for a year? Just something this episode made me think of.
Good point! One of the things I can't stand about the modern day Bandai era is just how tedious it can be when the heroes get a new trinket or mecha in every single episode, and it's meant to be important or build their arsenal, but it's just disregarded by the next episode. It's boring to write entire shows around their collecting of gimmicks and yet do nothing with them on top of it.
ReplyDelete